Jordan Mailata Addresses Contract Extension
ATLANTA – Jordan Mailata had himself a week.
Thursday: His representation contacted him and told him they had an offer from the Eagles for a new contract.
Friday: Both parties agreed.
Saturday: Mailata signs a four-year contract extension that will pay him $64 million but can be worth up to $80M, with $40.85M guaranteed. His teammates started calling him “Big Money.”
Sunday: Line up as the starting left tackle for the foreseeable future – a future that could run with him starting every game at that position through 2025 – in a 32-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
It was a game that saw the 6-8, 380-pound blocker bury rookie safety Richie Grant on a play that sprung Jalen Reagor for a 23-yard touchdown on a bubble screen.
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Mailata spoke for a few minutes following the win about the contract and the block.
Regarding the contract, he said, “I think it is a movie. I’m just waiting for somebody to say cut and the lights come down and I’m like, ‘Wow,’” he said. “Until then I’m just going to keep doing my process. Get better every day and keep learning from my mistakes.”
The process toward a new deal happened quickly Mailata said.
“I didn’t really want to know anything about it until they had something concrete with my agents so once they came back with an offer, it was kind of like…it just happened so fast just because I wanted to focus on me and focus on a big game all week,” he said. “My agents knew that.”
He said his first big purchase will probably be to buy his parents a house.
“Obviously it’s an incredible feat,” he said of the new deal. “I’m extremely blessed to have done that extension. I’m incredibly happy to keep representing this city and this team and organization and everything it stands for. It gives me an opportunity to represent my family, my country, my people.”
Jordan Mailata
One of the people responsible for helping Mailata earn that contract was offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
Stoutland was influential in getting the Eagles to take a flyer on the Australian rugby player in the seventh round of the 2018 draft.
When Mailata arrived in an NFL locker room for the first time, struggling to figure out how to put on a helmet and lace up his shoulder pads, Stoutland took over, helping Mailata how to play with technique and power.
“I’ll talk to Stout (Monday),” said Mailata “I did have a chance to say a quick thanks, but we both shut it down because we wanted to focus on the game.
"There were already enough people constantly reminding me of the contract situation, but for me, I was putting it on hold just because I wanted to focus on the game.”
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And Mailata hopes the Big Money nickname doesn’t stick
“I told them don’t call me that,” he said. “I’m just trying to take it day by day. I still have the same process, keep getting better every day, one percent better. I strongly believe in that. That’s the same attitude I’m going to keep going with regardless of how I’m getting paid.”
Now, about that block.
The play had been repped during practice leading up to Sunday’s opener.
“The timing wasn’t right, so when we called the play in the huddle, I knew what I had to correct,” Mailata said. “It’s a process, every play, but the timing has to be perfect and for me, it was just knowing the snap count first then knowing the timing of the screen then bee-lining it and burying someone if you get the opportunity.”
He had the opportunity, and it won’t be his last.
There could be five more years of opportunity just like that.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
